


Paper Kites

by CovalentBond



Series: Paper Kites Universe [1]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Adorable Connor, Alternate Universe - Human, Gay Disaster Gavin Reed, Gen, Hank Anderson & Connor Friendship, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-05
Updated: 2019-01-27
Packaged: 2019-07-07 03:34:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15900060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CovalentBond/pseuds/CovalentBond
Summary: Gavin's has had a crush on his best friend, Nines' younger brother ever since they were kids, and when he joined the DPD, he thought he could squash his massive crush by distancing himself from the brothers.Then Connor had to ruin everything by transferring to his precinct for an unforeseeable amount of time as Anderson's partner. And to top it all off, when Gavin heard that Connor was driving almost two hours to get to work, he offered up the spare room in his tiny little house for him to stay.---This is basically Gavin pining over Connor while the entire universe laughs at him.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I am such a sucker for Gavin/Connor. Please yell at me.
> 
> \---  
> Also  
> [posts new work even tho i haven't updated any of my other fics for the past nine years whoops]

\---  
When Gavin heard that there was going to be a new transfer from the neighboring district, he didn’t really think much of it. Rumors has it that Anderson has been assigned as their partner to tackle android related cases, and that whoever they are, they are well-praised by Fowler and their home precinct. They’re supposed to be some sort of “negotiator”, Gavin hears, but he really couldn’t care less. He’s never done well with a partner, and Fowler had opted to let him work solo as long as he was getting the results.

The only person that could work well when partnered with Gavin was his best friend, Nines. They had been close friends growing up as neighbors, and even roomed together when they were both in police college. But then Nines transferred to Paramedics and no one else could tolerate Gavin’s weird habits and somewhat peculiar work ethics, and that had been the end of that. 

It’s not really a secret that Gavin is a hard person to get along with. It wasn’t because he was an asshole, although some of his coworkers would beg to differ. It was simply because he hated human interactions. There is a reason he didn’t have much friends growing up, and Nines and Connor only stuck around at first because their backyards were connected. But over the years, he had learned to get along with the brothers, and in return they had accepted him—an only child—into their weird little brotherly bond. 

(Once, Tina had even commented on how much he acts like a middle child, and Gavin had spluttered while denying it.) 

Gavin was a fucking delight in the office, he could socialize and get along with his coworkers, but once he got home, he needed his space. There was something about being around people that was so emotionally draining. Sure, he was brash, hot headed, and often times spoke without thinking. But he was also ambitious, fucking amazing at his job, and is a lot smarter than he looks (that’s what Tina says, at least). 

After finishing college, Nines had moved across the city with his younger brother, Connor, and Gavin had to suck it up and look for another roommate. There was simply no way he could afford rent when he was merely a rookie cop, barely scraping by to put food on the table and still pay off his student loans. 

He went through roommates and apartments like he climbed the ranks at the Detroit Police Department, with a sense of righteousness and passion, whether from the need to get away from that one micromanaging roommate, or to prove himself as one of the youngest recruits. By the time he was 27, he had been promoted to Detective; one of the youngest Detectives in the DPD history. With the huge bonus he had received the year he got promoted as Detective, he put a down payment on a tiny little house in the middle of a suburban neighborhood. It had been foreclosed after a Red Ice lab had been found in the basement, and Gavin took it as a chance to get away from his batshit insane roommate who played the tuba at four in the morning. 

Now sitting at his desk, sipping his coffee and aimlessly scrolling through the robbery report he was supposed to proofread, Gavin is awakened from a daze by some commotion at the front desk. 

“Must be the new transfer,” Tina mused from her desk. 

Gavin couldn’t make out the figure that walked into Fowler’s room, but he heard the Captain yelling for Anderson, and the Lieutenant sighing and making his way over. He was openly trying to get a peek, and everyone else at their desks were shamelessly cranking their necks to get a glimpse of the new transfer. Their precinct hasn’t had anyone new since Gavin joined years ago, and he was tried of being called the rookie even though he has had more promotions than some of the more senior employees. 

“You think they’re gonna be an old geezer like Hank?” Gavin asks Chris, who had crawled on top of his desk to see past the stripes of blurred glass in Fowler’s office. 

“Let me get a closer look,” Chris announces before he stood up on the desk, kicking away stray sheets of paper on the ground. 

“Watch it,” Coraline mumbles quietly to the left. 

The rest of the officers are all looking up at him expectantly.

“He looks young,” Chris says finally, and shrugs. “I can’t see much but he’s got a nice side profile.”

A round of murmurs and chatter erupts around the office. Yes, Gavin thinks to himself. The new rookie can take my spot at the bottom of the food chain. And he turns to Tina to tell her just that.

“Don’t think I’ll stop teasing you just because there’s someone new coming in,” she wags a finger at him. 

“Please,” Alex rolls his eyes next to her. “He’s not a rookie, he’s just a new transfer.” 

“Doesn’t matter,” Gavin says gleefully. “I’m still gonna haze fuck outta him.”

Then the doors to Fowler’s office opens. Anderson walks out, and the entire office holds their breath as the subject of their somewhat inappropriate gawking follows behind him. 

“Introduce yourself or something, kid, I don’t know,” Anderson waves his hand in the general direction of the two dozen officers staring at them with doe eyes, staying perfectly still in their respective poses before the glass doors had opened, making absolutely zero effort to hide the fact that they were trying to listen in on the meeting.

“Um, hello guys,” the young man steps out from behind Anderson and cocks his head slightly to the side, flashing a shy and bashful smile. “My name is Connor, and I’m the negotiator sent to assist Lieutenant Anderson and this department with any android related homicides.”

“What the fuck,” Gavin says. 

\---  
“Gavin!” Connor’s face lights up, and his face breaks into a genuine smile. 

Gavin’s heart skips a beat as Connor locks eyes with him. Even after all these years, Connor still hasn’t lost the boyish look to his face, and his golden caramel eyes are still as warm and sweet as Gavin remembers. His hair, looking so soft and inviting, and Gavin wants to ruffle his hair like he’d always do when they were kids—an excuse to ran his fingers through his hair. 

Gavin feels his face flush as all the eyes turns to him, and Anderson’s eyebrows climbs to his hairline. 

“You know this asshole?” Gavin rolls his eyes at him, but the Lieutenant is looking back at Connor, who is still giving Gavin that ridiculous dopey smile. 

“Yeah,” Connor looks away finally. “He’s a close friend of my brother. We were neighbors growing up.”

“Oh shit,” Tina cuts in. “You knew Gavin when he was a kid?”

“Since we were in diapers,” Connor laughs.

“Oh boy,” she replies, smirking at Chris across the room. “You gotta tell us all the stupid shit he did when he was younger!”

Even Anderson laughs at that, and pats Connor on the back. 

“Looks like you’re gonna fit right in, kid.”

Gavin groans and buries his face in his hands.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm tempted to make this Nines/Gavin/Connor but I also really love the idea of Gavin and Nines having a familial kind of love between them. AHhhhhhh help

_Gavin: CONNOR?????????_

_Nines: No??_

_Nines: It’s Nines._

_Gavin: NO I MEAN_

_Gavin: CONNORS HERE_

_Nines: oh lol yeah_

_Gavin: YOU KNEW AND DIDN’T TELL ME????_

_Nines: he wasn’t sure that it was gonna be your precinct so he said not to tell you until he can confirm it_

_Gavin: bruh_

_Nines: lol he says hi_

_Gavin: bruhhhhhhhhhhhhhh_

\---

 

Gavin groans as he recalls the messages from last night. Nines had invited him over for dinner but Connor had his very first case with Anderson and had to cancel last minute, and Gavin didn’t feel like driving across town when he’s got an early shift the next day.

 

Now laying on his bed, phone beeping the obnoxious piano melody that Connor had set as his alarm tone years ago, Gavin wishes he had taken up on Nines’ offer, if only so that he had an excuse to be late to work. He pulls the covers over his head and basks in the warmth for a few seconds, before reaching for his phone on the bed side table. He squints at the screen, wincing slightly at the brightness, and sighs as the clock reads 0706. His shifts starts at 8. Fuck.

 

He rolls out of bed and goes through his morning routine like a zombie. Hop in the shower, brush his teeth while in the shower to save time, towel dry his hair and attempt to tame it, throw on a pair of dark jeans and an old DPD hoodie, grab an apple, and head out the door.

 

Gavin debates getting a coffee from the bakery down the street, but decides against it. He can suffer the shitty instant coffee at work for one more day.

 

When he arrives, there are already a few officers stumbling around, and a few more packing up and getting ready to end their overnight shift. Gavin nods at them as he makes a beeline straight for the break room, where the office’s only coffee machine is. The shitty machine’s been there since the dawn of men, but somehow endured through every mishap and morning rage that the officers had thrown at it. It was a true trooper, and Gavin could appreciate that.

 

Upon entering the room, he notices that Chris and Tina are already there, sitting down and nursing their respective cups of burnt coffee. And to his surprise, Connor is also there, sitting at the table and chatting with Gavin’s friends. They turn their heads when Gavin enters the room, mumbling a quiet “morning” before going straight to the cabin.

 

“I used your mug, sorry,” Connor’s voice pipes up behind him.

 

Gavin turns, and blinks blearily. Sure enough, there was Connor cradling his favourite mug with both hands. He brings the mug to his face and closes his eyes as the hot steam rises. He looks absolutely exhausted, Gavin thinks.

 

“Oh,” Gavin replies intelligently.

 

“Officer Chen says I could,” Connor adds.

 

“Call me Tina, please. And I figured you wouldn’t mind,” Tina shrugs, and goes back to showing Chris something on her phone.

 

Connor extends his arms and offers the mug to Gavin, who’s way too tired to do anything but take the mug—his hands cradle Connor’s for a brief moment before the younger man lets go. He closes his eyes as his lips touch the rim. He hums as the hot liquid wash down his throat, and he feels just a tad more alive.

 

Gavin takes a seat next to Connor and shifts his chair closer so he can bump his shoulders against him. He passes the mug over and Connor takes his turn sipping the coffee. Soon, they each have a hand wrapped around the mug, and Connor has his head slumped against Gavin’s shoulder. Both of them taking turns lifting the mug and sipping the slightly watery instant coffee.

 

At some point, Chris and Tina’s conversation has lulled, and a few more officers had trickled in, clanking around on the counter or taking a seat at the lunch table. A nice blanket of morning grogginess enshrouds the room.

 

Gavin closes his eyes, and if he focuses hard enough, he could pretend that this was just one of the mornings after Connor had crashed at his and Nines’ dorm in college, and they’d all stayed up until 4 in the morning making pillow forts and watching shitty movies. And when they had finally fallen asleep, cuddled together in a puppy pile surrounded by pillows and blankets, the alarm would sound just an hour after, and Gavin and Nines would drag themselves up from the warmth to get ready for class.

 

Nines would be mumbling something about not learning their lessons about staying up late when they had morning classes, but Connor would laugh because they all knew they’d do it again. Gavin would slump on the couch while Nines started the coffee machine, and Connor would climb up beside him and rest his head on his shoulders. Some days Connor cuddled up to his brother, while Gavin was on coffee duty, where he watched the brothers from the kitchen.

 

Gavin takes a deep breath, which rouses him from the day dream. His heart feels oddly full. He misses those days, when things were much simpler and the three of them didn’t have the responsibility of being adults. When they could say “fuck it” and skip class just to hang out and be with each other.

 

Seeing Connor in person had made Gavin realize just how much he misses the brothers. It was easy to get caught up with work, getting by with only texts and phone calls, but seeing Connor—and touching him, has broken something in Gavin. A wave of emotions crashes over him—fuck, he misses Nines and Connor so much it hurts. He clears his throat and sits up straighter; now is not the time to get emotional.

 

“Hey,” he nudges Connor with his shoulder. “Couldn’t sleep last night?”

 

“Hmm,” Connor replies into his shoulder.

 

Gavin flicks his head.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

“Had to drive two hours to get here on time, I’m fucking dying, Gavin.”

 

“You went all the way back home?”

 

“Yeah, well, where was I supposed to stay?” Connor looks up at him with a pout.

 

“I don’t know, a hotel? Shouldn’t you be accommodated or something?” Gavin frowns. If Connor’s shift starts at 8, and he needs at least two hours to drive here, then Connor must have woken up at the ass crack of down to get here on time. And with how late his case with Anderson ended the night before, Connor must be running on only a few hours of sleep.

 

“I wasn’t sure how long I’d be staying,” Connor replies. “I didn’t wanna go through the trouble.”

 

Gavin looks at Connor, and he’s doing the stupid puppy face again. He probably doesn’t even know he’s doing it. That fucker has so many people wrapped around his fingers and he doesn’t even know it. God, Gavin wants to squish his cheeks and coo over him.

 

“You know you can stay with me, right?” Gavin says instead. “I literally live 20 minutes away.”

 

“I know, but…” Connor looks away, and Gavin knows. He knows Connor felt uncomfortable asking to stay at Gavin’s when Gavin had turned down almost every offer to hang out. Work got busy, and none of their schedules ever matched up, and the rare times they did, Gavin chickened out because the prospect of seeing Connor again made his stomach flutter and his heart seize up.

 

Gavin opens his mouth to apologize, but Chris decides to get up, loudly scraping his chair against the floor and breaking the weird tension between the two. Tina gets up after him and stretches obnoxiously loud.

 

Gavin takes that as his queue to leave, too. Fowler should be coming in soon and he didn’t want to get caught slacking off in the break room.

 

“Hey,” he squeezes Connor’s arm gently. “You can stay at my place, at least until the weekend.”

 

“Okay,” Connor says, still looking down at their hands around the mug, but Gavin knows he’s smiling.

\---

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the super late update, school started and it's been kicking my ass.

Connor and Anderson had been called out to a case sometime before lunch, and it’s now nearing six o’clock and Gavin had run out of things to do. He’d promised Connor he’d wait for him and they can go home together, but it seems like this case is going to take a lot longer than any of them had expected. 

Gavin shifts in his chair and scrolls aimlessly on the computer. There were files and evidence logs he should be reviewing, but his brain had stopped functioning at around three in the afternoon, and he’d been playing Solitaire on his phone ever since. 

He had also filled his “pester Tina because I’m bored” meter for the day, and she was actually flipping intensely through case files and transcripts at her desk. He didn’t want to be at the end of her glares again, so he pouts and begins to make a cocoon with his jacket. Halfway through zipping himself up with his arms on the inside of the jacket, his phone vibrates on his desk. 

He reaches one arm out through the opening at the top and leans his entire body across his desk to reach the phone.

“Wassup,” Gavin answers. 

“Hey, are you still at the office?” Connor’s voice filters through.

“Yep,” Gavin pops the “p”. “Y’all done yet?”

“We’re just wrapping things up,” Connor’s voice sounds absolutely exhausted. The muffled voices in the back seem to fade away, as if Connor had stepped aside from the commotion. “Can you pick me up?” 

“Text me the address and I’ll be there.” 

“Thanks, Gav.”  
\--  
The police cars are still flashing their lights when Gavin pulls up to the scene. He gets out of his car and walks past the virtual police tapes, flashing his badge at a rookie officer who seemed ready to stop him. He spots Anderson first, talking to another officer off to the side. 

“Kid’s still in there,” Anderson nods at him and then tilts his head towards the dilapidated house. “We’re just finishing up.”

Gavin mumbled a “thanks” and ducks into the house. The stench of stale piss and rotting flesh intensifies as he passed through the front door. He scrunches his nose in disgust. 

“Hey, Reed,” Officer Jones waves at him, standing over the dead body with a camera. “Looking for Lieutenant Anderson?”

“Nah, I’m here for-“ 

“Gavin!” 

Gavin turns and sees Connor standing by the entrance to what he presumed to be the kitchen. He has a smile on his face but otherwise looks completely drained, and he’s clutching his phone in his hands like a lifeline. 

Jones chuckles and goes back to photographing the body. Gavin reaches his hand out to steady him as Connor practically skips towards him. 

“You said you’d be here in ten minutes. I was worried.” Connor gives him that puppy-face pout, and Gavin can’t resist his urge to pinch his nose. 

“Sorry, rush hour was a bitch.”

Connor reaches for his arm as he leads the two of them outside, waving goodbye to Anderson, but not before reminding him to be at the office at eight tomorrow morning—to which the Lieutenant rolled his eyes fondly—and dragging Gavin to his car. 

“Do you need to swing by the office?” Gavin asks once he buckles in his seatbelt. 

“Nah, let’s just go home and order some take out,” Connor slumps into the seat. “Then I’m going to sleep for ten years.”

“Mood,” Gavin snorts, and floors the gas pedal.  
\--  
An hour later, and Gavin and Connor are sitting on the couch, shoving food in their mouth while video calling Nines, who’s covering his co-worker’s overnight shift. From what they can see, Nines is sitting in the back of his ambulance, double checking the cabinets while scarfing down a croissant. 

“How long are you staying there?” 

“Until the weekend, probably.” Connor replies to his brother with his mouthful of rice. 

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, Connor,” Nines scolds. “You want me to drop some clothes off tomorrow?”

“When are you off?” Gavin pipes in, mouth also full.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, Gavin,” Nines scolds again. “I get off at noon, then I get two days off after that.”

“Come by tomorrow then,” Connor suggests. 

“Slumber partyyyyyyyy,” Gavin purposely sprays a couple of chunks of food at the screen. 

“Ew, Gav.” 

“Let’s have a sleep overrrrrrrr,” Gavin ignores Connor disgusted look. 

“I’ll text you when I get off then,” Nines looks away from Gavin’s open mouth. 

“Okay, have a good shift.” Connor is trying really hard to pretend Gavin doesn’t exist, despite the man being practically draped across his lap, mouth still foaming with food.

“See you,” Nines gives his sweet little brother a smile, but his left eye is twitching when he hangs up the call. 

“You’re disgusting,” Connor says as he shoves Gavin off his lap and makes his way to the kitchen. 

Gavin cackles. 

“Disgusting!”  
\--  
“This is the smallest one I can find,” Gavin holds up an old t-shirt. 

“Gavin, I’m taller than you.” Connor would cross his arms but he has to hold the towel up around his waist. 

“By like two millimeters.”

“An entire inch, Gavin!” Connor exclaims. 

“Like I said, two millimeters,” Gavin throws the shirt at him. “Here, try it on.” 

Connor rolls his eyes and puts on the shirt. It hangs off his shoulders loosely, but Connor’s always been on the lean side. 

“Here, pants.” Gavin throws a pair of grey swear pants at him.

Connor catches them with his face. 

“Thanks.” His voice is muffled through the fabric.  
\--  
Connor knees Gavin in the kidney when he climbs into bed. 

“Ow.”

“Sorry, it’s dark in here.”

Gavin shifts over a bit and waits for Connor to settle down. 

Connor grabs the blanket and kicks him in the shin.

“Stop fidgeting and go to sleep.”

“But I need to get comfortable.” 

“Half of my ass is already falling off the bed, Connor.” 

“We used to be able to fit three of us on one bed.” 

“We were like five.” Gavin shifts closer and presses his ice cold toes into Connor’s thighs. “Go to sleep, please.” 

“Night.” 

“Night,” Gavin sighs, finally closing his eyes and embracing the lull of unconsciousness.  
\--

Halfway through the night, Connor kicks him off his own bed. He gets up and crawls back into bed, pushing the other man’s limbs to one side, to which Connor responded by wrapping around him like an octopus.  
\--


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the erratic updates , but I'm trying to crank out as many chapters as I can while I'm on reading week. 
> 
> Thanks for reading y'all. I love every single one of your comments!

The alarm cuts through the fogginess of Gavin’s sleep, startling him from a deep slumber that he hasn’t had in a long time. He reaches over to the bedside table for his phone, and is stopped by a heavy weight on the right side of his body. He pats the thing blindly with his hands, and is met with silky hair, what feels like soft skin, and a wet patch of something on his shoulder. 

“Wah,” the thing says. 

“Phone,” Gavin replies intelligently. 

An arm that is not his reaches for the phone and it takes a few fumbles before the obnoxious beeping is turned off. The glow of the screen illuminates the room for a few seconds, and Gavin realizes that it’s Connor who has fused himself to the side of his body during the night. A trail of dried drool runs down the brunet’s face and Gavin touches the wet patch on his shoulder and sighs. 

“You drooled on me.”

Connor hums in reply and throws his leg over the other man. 

“Five more minutes,” he mumbled into Gavin’s arm, slightly above the wet patch. 

“Are you wiping your drool on me.” It wasn’t a question. 

Connor says something but it’s muffled against the shirt. It sounds like a “no”. 

“Get up, we’re gonna be late.” 

Gavin kicks the awkwardly placed leg from his waist, and makes a face when he tugs at the wet spots on his shirt. Climbing over Connor, he makes his way to the bathroom, ignoring the distressed sounds coming from the bed.  
\--

 

When Gavin comes out of the bathroom, freshly showered, Connor is ruffling through his closet. He turns to look at Gavin, who can’t help but snort at the sight of his hair sticking up all over the place with sleep lines across his face. 

“Hm,” Connor greets him, and makes his way to the bathroom, shoulders brushing as he slugs across the room. 

Gavin hears the door shut behind him, and goes to investigate the closet door that Connor had left open. He was probably looking for something to wear, Gavin realized. So he ruffles through the bottom of his drawers, and finds an old DPD hoodie that Anderson had gotten him when he first joined the force, and a pair of faded black jeans that was slightly too long for him. Hopefully Connor doesn’t have any important meetings today, because Gavin’s selection of business casual wear is almost nonexistent. 

Connor exits the bathroom twenty minutes later, followed by a shroud of steam. He’s got a towel wrapped around his neck and is shaking his head, spraying water everywhere. 

“Come here, you fucking dog,” Gavin walks towards him with his hands out, reaching to grab the sides of the towel and pulling it over the younger man’s head. Before he can protest, Gavin is rubbing at his head furiously. Connor is spluttering as much as he can with a towel over his face, and Gavin switches to a half Nelson to make sure he doesn’t escape. 

When Gavin finally pulls the towel away, Connor is left standing there dazed and flushed, mouth gaping open like a fish, and hair sticking up in every direction. Gavin bursts into laughter, and continues howling even when Connor tackles him onto the bed.  
\--  
They arrive at the office 30 minutes late, much to Connor’s displeasure. But in Gavin’s defense, he didn’t know traffic would be that bad after taking a detour to get coffee and breakfast. 

Connor walks into before him, wearing the DPS hoodie that’s slightly too big, reaching down to his thighs, somehow making him look even younger. He had tried to comb his hair down before leaving the house, but there was that one stubborn cowlick that would not stay down. So here he is, speed walking to his desk with his cup of coffee and croissant, and that cowlick bouncing with every step. 

Gavin strolls in much slower, pausing at the door to say hello to Tina and Jack and taking a slow sip of his five dollar coffee. Anderson is already at his desk, which is a first since—forever, Gavin thinks. 

“Don’t”, Connor says when he plops down on his chair, seated directly across from the Lieutenant. 

Anderson closes his mouth, and mimes zipping it up and throwing the keys away. But the amused look on his face stays. When Gavin makes his way past them to his own desk, he notes Anderson’s smile turning into a smirk. 

“What did you two get up to last night?” Gavin decides to tune out right there, because it’s too early to deal with his bullshit, and he can hear Connor leaning forward in his chair, so he decides to let him handle that question. 

Gavin is 30 minutes into replying to his emails when Chris and Tina plop themselves down on his desk, obscuring his view of the screen. 

“So,” Chris begins, and looks to Tina to continue. 

“Is that your old hoodie?” 

“Yes, and?” Gavin has been teased for his lack of love life by his friends for years now, and he knows better than to take the bait. 

“So he stayed over last night?” Tina has a shit-eating grin on her face. 

“He did.”

“And?” Chris presses on. 

“And what? He stayed over, and I lent him some clothes.”

“That’s it?” Tina looks skeptical. 

“I mean, we also had take out?” 

“You guys didn’t—” 

“No, Tina,” Gavin cuts her off. Connor is glancing at the three of them with a questioning look on his face. 

“Oh, really?” They both look surprised for some reason. 

“The way you look at him, I just thought,” Chris frowns.

“The way I what?” Gavin splutters, and he feels his face heating up. 

“So what exactly are you two?” Tina gestures vaguely with her fingers. 

“He’s my best friend,” Gavin begins, but hesitates as that’s not quite the word. Connor, and Nines by extension, is more than that—they’re family. “He’s kinda like my platonic life partner.” 

“There’s nothing platonic about you two,” a deep voice snorts behind Gavin, startling him and his neck hurts from how fast he turns around. Anderson is standing there, holding a cup of coffee and looking down at him with one of his goofy ass smiles. 

“Jesus fuck, old man,” Gavin clutches at his heart, and his friends just laugh at him. 

Anderson walks back to his desk, and Connor tilts his head to the side as he sits down, no doubt giving the old man one of his infamous puppy looks. Gavin snaps his head back when he realizes that he’s been staring at the back of Connor’s head for too long, and Chris and Tina are just sitting on his desk, giving him The Look. 

“Don’t y’all have work to do? Fuck off!” Gavin shoos them away with his hands, glaring at their backs as they cackle their way to the break room.  
\--


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really like the name Caleb. :)

Gavin manages a few more hours of paper work without any interruption, until Anderson and Connor are called out for a quick meeting with the forensic team, and Connor drops by his desk and gives him a quick goodbye. He throws his arms up and stretches when the doors close after Anderson’s heavy foot steps, and he twists his torso in an attempt to crack his back. The resulting pops earn him a few sympathetic looks from other officers. 

He makes his way to the break room to refill his mug with coffee, and maybe steal some crackers from the cupboards, which will hopefully tie him over until Connor comes back and they can go for lunch. He’s absentmindedly munching on a saltine cracker and reading the nutrition label when he hears a rise in the noise levels outside. He pauses his chewing and listens in. 

“Hey, Connor?” That’s Tina’s voice. She sounds uncertain. 

“Didn’t you just leave.” Fowler’s voice comes next, sounding even more perplexed than Tina. 

Gavin frowns, did Connor forget something? He puts the crackers down and pokes his head out the break room. 

“Uh,” Connor says, except that’s not Connor. 

“Nines!” Gavin greets, and cracker crumbs spray from his mouth. Nines winces as a few stray projectiles are fired in his general direction. 

“Nines?” Fowler says at the same time as Chris, and there are audible confusion coming from the rest. 

“Uh,” Nines says again. 

“Connor?” Tina tries again.

“Nines.” Nines says. 

Gavin bursts out laughing, and the last few cracker hostages are let free, much to Nines’ displeasure. 

“You’re not Connor?” Caroline asks over Gavin’s laughter-turned-coughing. 

“No?” Nines does that little head tilt, and with that comes his own version of the infamous puppy face. The brothers really do look identical, with the only difference being their eyes and the fact that Nines is an inch taller. 

“No, that’s not Connor,” Gavin finally stops laughing and takes pity on Fowler, as he looks like he’s having an aneurysm. “That’s his brother.”

“Um, sorry,” Nines manages to look sheepish. “I guess security let me through thinking I was Connor.”

“Brother? Wait,” Tina finally snaps out of her shock as realization hits her. “Are you the infamous college roommate?” 

Then the office became an uproar. Gavin wishes he had never told them about the time he chugged two while liters of red wine and projectile vomited out the window and onto their balcony garden, which resulted in Connor drunk crying as that had ruined his favorite potted tomato plant. And Nines had had to clean up after two drunken, crying idiots while scooping out vomit from a potted plant. All in all, that was not a pleasant experience, and he had only told a few officers during one of those Christmas parties where everyone had a bit too much to drink and Gavin decided to throw the last shred of his dignity out of the window.  
\---  
After the dust had settled, and Nines was redirected to go through security properly, Fowler is still standing in the middle of the precinct, looking somewhat bewildered. 

“Jesus,” the Captain murmurs to himself. “They look like fucking clones.”

“To be fair, Connor’s got honey-brown eyes, and is a bit shorter,” Gavin adds. 

“Well, I don’t stare into Connor’s eyes enough to know what shade of honey they are,” Fowler turns to him, and gives him The Look that Chris and Tina had given him earlier that morning. 

“What is that supposed to mean?” Gavin splutters, face turning red as Fowler rolls his eyes, mumbling something about the best detective can’t get a clue. 

Thankfully, whatever Fowler is saying is cut short by Nines walking back in with a visitor’s badge, and the Captain redirects his attention away from Gavin. 

“I guess I should properly introduce myself,” Nines walks up to Fowler with his hand out. “My name’s Caleb. I’m a paramedic for 23rd division.” 

“Captain Jeffrey Fowler,” Fowler shakes his hand. “Extend my thanks to your team for the backup back in March, we couldn’t have done it without you.” 

Gavin ignores their little pleasantry talk and grabs the take out bags that Nines had placed on his desk. The other officers are now piping in with their recollection of that warehouse disaster, where neighboring forces were all summoned to deal with the aftermath of a meth lab explosion. Almost everything that could have went wrong went wrong, from hostages to toxic chemicals to bomb threats—Gavin still remembers the charred bodies before they were transferred to body bags. It was one of the most emotionally draining scenes he had experienced, and he remembered seeing Nines on top of a little girl, frantically doing chest compressions until the machine beeped and declared her unsalvageable. 

He’s jolted out of his flashback when someone slaps the back of his head. 

“Ow,” Gavin rubs the back of his head, but he takes his hand back from the takeout bag. He doesn’t need to turn around to see who had done it. 

“That’s for later,” Nines scolds. 

Tina snorts from across the room, and Gavin gives her the finger.  
\---  
“Why are you still here,” Gavin says, after a few minutes of him pretending to scroll on his computer and Nines sitting across from him, staring at him with his chin on his arms. 

“I forgot the keys to your place.” 

Gavin throws his set of keys at him, and feels a bit annoyed that the other man manages to catch it effortlessly. 

“Anyways,” Nines continues without missing a beat. “Con should be back soon, no? I’ll wait around a bit.”

“Suit yourself,” Gavin says, and doesn’t try to hide the smile that’s creeping up as he stares at Nines fumbling to detach the house key from the mess that is his keychain. Gavin goes back to his computer, but he can’t seem to keep up the pretense of working again, especially when he hears the tell tale signs of foot steps behind him. 

“Sup,” Tina says as she leans on the back of Gavin’s chair.

“Hey,” there’s Chris, who nods at Nines. 

“Go away,” Gavin groans without turning around.

“Be nice, Gavin,” Nines says without any malice, and he’s smiling back at the officers. 

“Yeah, be nice, Gavin,” Tina repeats. “Anyways, we’re not here for you.” 

They both turn their attention to Nines and politely introduce themselves, but Gavin catches the glimmer in her eyes from his peripheral view. 

“Why don’t we show you around, Caleb?” Chris offers sweetly.

Gavin tries to protest but the three of them are pointedly talking over him. 

“Please, call me Nines,” the bastard smiles and gets up to follow them, but not before ruffling Gavin’s hair. “Let me know when Con gets back, okay?”

Gavin doesn’t even spare them a glance, and continues fuming at his computer. He knows they’re going to swap stories about him, and he can only hope that Nines has enough love for him in his cold, dead heart to not say anything too embarrassing.  
\---  
Gavin is still sulking at his desk when Connor walks in, followed by Anderson munching on a bagel. 

“Ah, the real Connor arrives,” Caroline greets him.

Gavin doesn’t even need to look to know that Connor is doing that confused puppy look again.

“We have a fake Connor?” Anderson asks.

“More like a budget Connor,” Gavin supplies. 

“Fuck you, Gav,” Gavin’s hears Nines before he sees him. The taller man rounds the corner following Chris and Tina. 

“I’ll pass on that,” Gavin replies dryly, but is drowned out by Connor’s enthusiastic cry of “Nines!”

“Are you sure?” Anderson leans in and fake whispers to Gavin, watching as Connor tackles his brother in a bear hug. “He looks just like Connor. If you just close your eyes and prete-“

Gavin screams, and falls flat on his face as he bolts out of his chair in an attempt to cover Anderson’s mouth.  
\---


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the long hiatus.

_Owo Gavin._

Gavin groans and closes his phone without replying. He’s sitting in the back seat, next to Connor, who is holding onto the stack of takeout containers seated between them.

 

“Aren’t you gonna answer that?” Connor says, scrolling on his phone, only pausing momentarily to give his brother a dirty look as Nines honks his horn and makes a rude gesture at the adjacent car.  

 

“It’s Tina.”

 

“What does she want?”

 

Gavin’s phone buzzes a few times in rapid succession.

 

_Caleb, eh?_

_He’s cute._

_Is he single?_

_And looks just like Connor._

He puts the phone face down on his thigh.

 

“I don’t know—AHHH!” Connor grabs the phone out of his hand, nearly toppling over the food. Gavin scrambles to stabilize the fried rice.

 

“You’ve been ignoring her texts—” Connor laughs, and three things happen simultaneously at the same time:

 

One, Gavin lunges at Connor, screaming. Two, Connor screams at Gavin’s scream. And three, Nines screams at Connor and Gavin’s scream.

 

 “THAT’S PRIVATE!” Gavin screeches.

 

“WHAT THE FUCK?” Connor flinches away from Gavin clawing at the phone in his hands.

 

“I AM DRIVING!” Nines roars from the front.

 

\---

“Sorry.” Connor mumbles after a whole minute of awkward silence, after Nines had yelled at them about the dangers of distracted driving while gesturing wildly with his arms and steering with his left knee.

 

“It’s okay.” Gavin mumbles back.

 

“I shouldn’t have tried to read your texts.”

 

“No, I shouldn’t have overreacted like that.”

 

Nines snorts from the driver’s seat.

\---

“You know, you can tell me anything, right?” They’re pulling up to Gavin’s street when Connor turns to him. “You don’t have to be embarrassed.”

 

“Huh?” Gavin blinks.

 

“You’re always so focused on work, but you’re allowed to have fun sometimes,” Connor continues.

 

“Fun?” Gavin repeats, confused.

 

 “And I know about the whole no-fraternizing policy,” Connor reaches over and places his hand over Gavin’s on top of the fried rice. “But I know you’re a professional, and you are mature enough to not let anything get in the way of your work.”

 

“Oh my god,” Nines murmurs to himself.

 

Gavin’s eyebrows are so close to his hair line he resists the urge to physically lower them with his fingers.

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

“Don’t play dumb,” Connor rolls his eyes. “Chris told me that you have a crush on someone at work.”

 

“He what?!?!?!?!”

 

Nines makes a sound like he’s choking on a hair ball.

 

“The whole office knows,” the brunet leans in closer with a smirk. “You’re really obvious, you know that?”

 

“I’m what?” Gavin finally manages to sputter out.

 

“Even I’ve noticed.”

 

“You’ve noticed?”

 

“Yep, from the moment I stepped into that precinct.” Connor says seriously. His hold on Gavin’s hand hasn’t wavered, despite it getting sweatier by the second. And Connor is leaning in so close that Gavin wonders if he can hear his heart beating against his throat.

 

“I, I-um,” Gavin begins, and looks at Nines for help, who quickly looks away from the rear-end mirror. Gavin really didn’t think that he’d be confessing to Connor in the backseat of his own car, holding each other’s hand over a lukewarm container of Chinese take out, being driven home by his best friend, who also happens to be the overprotective older brother of the man in question.

 

“Yes?” Connor tilts his head and does that stupid, cute, puppy eye look.

 

“I didn’t want—” _to ruin our friendship. To make you hate me. To be rejected._

 

“Hey, Gav, it’s okay.” Connor gives him a soft sweet smile, and Gavin is reminded once again how much he loves this man. He vaguely registers Nines pulling up to his house. “I think it’s wonderful.”

 

Gavin tightens his hold on the other man’s hand, and he leans in. _Oh god, I’m gonna kiss him. This is it, I’m gonna kiss him._ Their foreheads touch, and Gavin can feel Connor’s breath against his lips.

 

“Tina is really lucky to have you.”

 

Nines slams on the breaks so hard that both men and rice go flying off the seats.

\---

 


End file.
